


Just the Two of Us

by Shnanners



Series: "Things You Said" Prompts Series [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Canon, but shes there being her abusive self, i imagine theyre like 14/15, other horde kids only mentioned in passing, shadow weaver is only there briefly in a flashback and then only mentioned, t rating might be overkill but like im paranoid okay, think around the same time as the sparring flashback in promise, this takes place like maybe two or three years before canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shnanners/pseuds/Shnanners
Summary: “'Hey Adora, are you awake.'Adora was, in fact, awake, but she knew Catra already knew that. She nodded anyways, shifting to the side of the bed and lifting the corner of her thin blanket, making room for Catra next to her. She didn’t bother answering out loud. The only thing she could see in the dark room were Catra’s bright eyes, gold and blue staring up at her from the end of the bed, but she knew Catra could see her perfectly through the darkness. A moment later, she felt the warmth coming off of her best friend’s body as she settled next to her on the pillow, pulling the blanket up around her neck."1) things you said at 1 am
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: "Things You Said" Prompts Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857295
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	Just the Two of Us

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I haven't published anything in actual years but I want to and now Catradora has my whole heart so here I am I guess. I'm not convinced this is any good but if I'm gonna start publishing shit again then it's as good a place to start as any. Please enjoy? Hopefully?
> 
> Beta'd by my girlfriend because she's a saint. Also obligatory "I don't own She-Ra" but honestly I couldn't do any better than what they gave us so I'm not even mad I love it so much.

Adora grunted softly as she rolled onto her side, her sore muscles protesting the movement. She didn’t know how long she’d been in bed. Everyone else had passed out as soon as their heads hit their pillows, but she’d been unable to follow them to sleep. Her mind was running a million miles a minute, going over every move she made during their training exercises that day, and rethinking every call she’d shouted to her team. Trying to figure out where she went wrong. Why they had nearly failed the mission. What she could have done differently so that her team--so that _Catra_ \--wouldn’t have had to suffer Shadow Weaver’s wrath after such a disappointing run time.

The warm weight at her feet shifted, too carefully to have been done in a dream, and she knew that Catra was awake. Of course she was. She expected the whisper before she heard it.

“Hey Adora, are you awake.”

Adora was, in fact, awake, but she knew Catra already knew that. She nodded anyways, shifting to the side of the bed and lifting the corner of her thin blanket, making room for Catra next to her. She didn’t bother answering out loud. The only thing she could see in the dark room were Catra’s bright eyes, gold and blue staring up at her from the end of the bed, but she knew Catra could see her perfectly through the darkness. A moment later, she felt the warmth coming off of her best friend’s body as she settled next to her on the pillow, pulling the blanket up around her neck.

Their breath mingled in the small space between them, both of them silent as they listened to the snores and breathing of the other cadets sleeping in the dormitory around them.

“I’m sorry.” Adora whispered the apology so quietly that, even as close as they were together, she doubted Catra would have heard her without her heightened senses. Adora heard her answering scoff just fine, though.

“You’re such an idiot,” Catra hissed at her, but there was no malice behind her words. Just fond exasperation. “No one blames you for our lousy time today, Adora. We were all off.”

Adora winced. Maybe that was true, maybe it was all of their faults. But they were her team, which meant Shadow Weaver was harder on them for their failures. If Adora didn’t do well, her team suffered. More so than any other team when they had a below average time.

And Catra always got the worst of it.

Adora reached out and traced a hand down Catra’s left arm, loosely gripping her above the wrist and bringing it up between them. She felt Catra tense, and Adora’s brow furrowed with worry.

_Adora jumped off the bot as it collapsed, smoke billowing from where she’d just stabbed it to take it down. The buzzer sounded, signaling the run had ended, but she didn’t look up at their time. She knew it was bad, and that Shadow Weaver wouldn’t be happy when it was reported to her._

_“Adora.”_

_She looked up. Shadow Weaver was already there. Of course she was. Adora could feel the disappointment radiating from behind her expressionless mask. “I’m disappointed in you.” Adora frowned, her head bowed. “I expect better from the team being led by a future Force Captain.”_

_Adora felt her hands clench by her sides--her right hand gripping her staff until her knuckles were white, nails of her left hand digging into her palm not-quite hard enough to draw blood--as she glared at a spot on the floor. “I’m sorry, Shadow Weaver. I should have made a different call. Split us up sooner, that way we could have-”_

_“We can discuss what you could have done later,” the older woman interrupted. She reached a hand out and lifted Adora’s chin so she was looking up at her. “Go and get yourself cleaned up for dinner. We can talk after that.”_

_Adora nodded, grimacing as she walked away from her team and towards the locker rooms, hearing the beginning of Shadow Weaver’s lecture as the door closed behind her. Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio joined her in the locker room a few minutes later, changing and heading to the dining hall with her in silence. Catra was noticeably absent._

Adora shook her head, forcing away the memory from earlier that evening. Catra had wandered into dinner a little later than the rest of the team, acting for all the world like nothing was the matter. She’d pushed Lonnie out of the seat next to Adora on the bench, and laughed when Kyle fell off the end. She’d snagged the last gray ration bar before anyone else could get it. But Adora saw how she kept her left arm just a little bit closer to her body, how she kept her wrist just a little too stiff.

She wanted to talk to Catra about it right after dinner, but Shadow Weaver pulled her away for a talking to of her own before she got the chance. By the time her lecture was over, mind full of new plans and formations to use in their next training exercise, it was nearly lights out. She’d climbed into bed, Catra curled up at her feet, and tried to get some rest.

It seems her plans had failed her twice today.

She gently prodded at Catra’s wrist now, as she set it gently on the pillow between them. It wasn’t swollen, but she noted the sharp intake of breath as she pushed down. Probably bruised. No one else would notice it, hidden away under her fur. But Adora did. Adora always noticed when Catra was hurt.

Tears sprung up in Adora’s eyes, and she blinked them back. Catra tugged her hand back to her chest. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” Adora’s eyes squeezed shut. Her whisper was rough with unshed tears, with words that she didn’t say, but that Catra heard anyways. _I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from her. I’m sorry this keeps happening. I’m sorry I don’t know how to stop it. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sor-_

She felt a clawed finger on her forehead, and looked up. Catra had a small smile on her face, softer than her usual smirk. The one that was reserved just for Adora.

“You’re thinking too loud. You’ll wake everyone else up.” Catra pulled her hand back again, staring into Adora’s eyes. Adora took a few deep breaths, staring right back. “I’ll _will_ be okay, Adora. And we’ll do better next time. All of us.”

Adora felt Catras tail wrap around her leg under the blanket, and the knot in her chest unclenched a little bit for the first time all night. “Yeah, you’re right. Next time.”

Catra’s smile shifted into the more familiar smirk, one fang peeking out over her bottom lip. “Then, when you do finally make Force Captain, we can get out of here together, and show Shadow Weaver what we’re really made of. Just the two of us.”

Adora smiled. “Just the two of us.” She felt the rest of the tension melt away, as the exhaustion from the day finally caught up with her. She finally drifted off to sleep, curling into Catra just a little bit more as she did.

When she woke up the next morning, the cat girl was back at the foot of the bed, fast asleep and looking for all the world like she’d been there all night. Almost everyone else was up, most heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day’s training. Lonnie and Kyle were throwing things at Rogelio, trying to wake him up.

Adora smiled, following their lead and throwing a pillow at her sleeping best friend, laughing at the way she jumped, tail stiff and hackles raised, before narrowing her eyes and tackling them both out of bed.

Catra was right. Today would be a better day. And they would be fine. As long as they had each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr (littleshnanners) that I'm literally never on but you're welcome to visit it that'd be cool. Hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully I'll be able to convince myself to write more soon.


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